Psychosocial impact of unemployment: Validation of the PSIUS and spatial distribution of latent classes in an urban Chilean community

BACKGROUND: Unemployment is a persistent socioeconomic phenomenon with profound psychological and community-level consequences. Despite extensive evidence on its adverse effects, an integrated construct capturing both psychosocial and spatial dimensions remains underdeveloped. OBJECTIVES: To develop and validate the Psychosocial Impact of Unemployment Scale (PSIUS) and to examine the spatial distribution of the psychosocial impact of unemployment in an urban Chilean community. METHODS: A cross-sectional psychometric validation study was conducted in Cauquenes, Chile. The PSIUS, a 30-item Likert-type scale, was developed in a pilot sample of 200 adults selected through a two-stage stratified random sampling procedure based on urban households from central and peripheral sectors of the borough. Its factorial structure was validated in an independent sample of 202 participants using exploratory factor analysis and exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM). Latent class analysis (LCA) identified psychosocial response typologies, while spatial techniques (Global Moran's I, Getis-Ord Gi*) examined their geographic distribution. RESULTS: ESEM supported a six-factor structure (financial pressure, work values and commitment, perceived well-being, self-devaluation, dysfunctional affectivity, and perceived social support), explaining 72% of the variance and showing adequate model fit (RMSEA = 0.06, SRMR = 0.04, CFI = 0.98, TLI = 0.96) and satisfactory reliability (ω = 0.86). LCA identified four psychosocial response typologies: resilient, paradoxical, traumatic, and witness. Spatial analysis revealed significant clustering, with hot and cold spots associated with each typology, reflecting territorial inequalities in psychosocial vulnerability. CONCLUSIONS: The PSIUS showed preliminary evidence of reliability and construct validity in this community sample and effectively detected spatial patterns in the psychosocial impact of unemployment. These findings highlight the potential value of integrating psychosocial and spatial perspectives in public health research. However, further validation in independent and more diverse populations is required before broader implementation of the PSIUS.